The unique effects of Covid-19 – A qualitative study of the factors that influence teachers’ acceptance and usage of digital tools

The objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence teachers’ acceptance of digital tools for undertaking distance teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on the variables of the technology acceptance model, we have conducted interviews with 15 secondary school teachers with varying degrees of professional experiences and combinations of subjects, from the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany and analyzed the same. The results indicate that, other than user motivation, three areas, namely “regulations and specifications,” “technological infrastructure,” and “heterogeneity of students and teachers,” affect the adoption of digital tools. The Covid-19 pandemic, which inevitably led teachers to embrace digital tools, positively influenced the perception and immediate usefulness of digital tools. We assert that no other variable would have been able to universally influence technology usage and acceptance to such an extent as to replicate the findings of our study and simultaneously highlight the uniqueness of the current situation and the necessity for examining its impact.